A suspected robber was shot through the heart by police after he refused to
raise his hands and began fiddling with something in his car.

The final moments of Anthony Grainger’s life emerged as three men appeared in court charged with conspiracy to commit robbery. Police have refused to say whether any weapons were recovered from the car.

Grainger, 35, was followed by officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Specialist Operations Branch as he drove through Culcheth, Cheshire.

Officers swooped when they saw three occupants allegedly put on balaclavas. They surrounded the car and ordered the men to put their hands up. It is believed Grainger did not do so and began fiddling with something.

A police officer shot him once through the windscreen, killing him.

The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which declined to comment.

David Totton, 33, from Manchester; Joseph Travers, 27, of no fixed address; and Robert Rimmer, 26, of Manchester, appeared at Manchester magistrates’ court yesterday charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

No plea was entered and they were remanded in custody.

Grainger, of Bolton, Lancs, was described as an “odd job man”.

An inquest into his death was formally opened and adjourned at Warrington coroner’s court.